I just realized I haven't posted in over a week. I don't think I've watched a movie in that time either...
I did finish a book though.
Man, I really enjoyed most of this book. It's a thick one, running almost 600 pages. It follows a guy, Shadow, who is released from prison a few days early because his wife has died in a car wreck. On his way back home, he meets Mr. Wednesday, who is eventually unveiled as a god, and hires Shadow to be his bodygaurd/errand boy. Shadow then enters a strange world were ancient gods exist everywhere, coming to America in the hearts and minds of settlers for thousands of years. Wednesday represents the old gods, and is trying to wage a war against the new American gods, which represent modern things like technology. This is where is gets pretty weird and hard to follow. There's just way too many characters, I had a hard time keeping up with who was what god and why they were even in the story at all. Then it climaxes in a battle that never happens, all the while going on and on for 100 pages of long, descriptive dream passages and shit that was hard to get through. When it does finally get back on track, many loose ends are tied up, but at that point, after all the god business and Shadow dying and walking "Backstage" to end the battle, and then coming back to life...the little details of what was happening back in the little town of Lakeside, Wisconsin, while nice to end the story of those characters, seemed like an afterthought.
Like I said, I really enjoyed most of it. I just think it got really slow and really dense towards the climax. At least this is the thickest of Gaiman's novels, so I think I'll still enjoy the next one I'm going to read, The Anansi Boys. It's similar to American Gods, sharing some characters and the universe itself, but is said to be much a much lighter read.
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